Updating a story I first reported on March 22nd, Decker Truck Lines of Fort Dodge, Iowa has hit the 750,000-mile mark in a two-year, two-million-mile study of how well B20, 20% biodiesel, works in long-haul semi trucks. This story in Farm News-Iowa.com says the study is the first of its kind in this country and is getting some help from the federal government:
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded a $74,990 grant to help fund the study which is being largely performed at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge. Don Heck, biofuels program coordinator at Iowa Central, said the grant dollars will be used for a variety of purposes in the study including additional expenses incurred by the test vehicles owned by Decker Truck Line Inc. of Fort Dodge.
Heck said the study was first launched in October 2006 with studies being performed on a fleet of 20 tractor-trailers. One-half of the trucks burn petroleum diesel with the other 10 trucks burning a B20 blend. Decker and Iowa Central are collaborating with the Iowa Soybean Association, Caterpillar, Inc., USDA and the National Biodiesel Board as sponsors of the study.
The article goes on to say a big part of the work has been perfecting the proper blend of biodiesel and then extracting the information such as gas mileage and wear and tear on the engine. The constant needed to be the blend of biodiesel, but Dale Decker, an industry and governmental relations director for Decker, said that was next to impossible.
‘‘Diesel fuel varies wildly when it comes in on the pipeline,’’ Decker said. ‘‘We know though that the biodiesel that we get from Doolittles (Oil Co. Inc. in Fort Dodge) comes from biodiesel plants owned by REG (Renewable Energy Group) and they meet industry standards (BQ9000).’’
Decker says after they got the supply problem solved, the study has been going very well.
Dr. Walter Copan, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Clean Diesel, says his company has developed a range of retrofit emissions control technologies, called Purifier. This new technology will help meet the requirements of new European LOw Emissions Zones (LEZs). One of these zones is about to take effect in London, England.
Fortunately, the longest presentation at the Ethanol Summit was one of the most interesting. Will Steger narrated a slide show of his various expeditions across frozen ice lands in Antarctica, the North Pole and the Greenland ice cap. He spoke of temperatures 30 degrees below freezing with 30 mile an hour winds. But, amidst all that freezing cold Will said he witnessed evidence that suggests the reality of global warming. Will said significant climate changes are causing large remnants of ice from the last ice age to break up and begin to melt. He said one ice shelf took him 21 days to cross and in 2002 the entire shelf disintegrated in just a matter of four weeks, and another ice shelf was completely gone a night after he crossed it. Will said these are real affects of global warming – a global warming he says the human population is contributing to and altering. For Will, the diminishing summer sea ice suggests the earth is experiencing what he calls “unnatural climate changes.” 
The “Ethanol Summit” included an impressive list of speakers and both local and national press arrived to cover it. The Ethanol Information and Promotional Council, IndyCar Series, Indianopolis Motor Speedway and Rahal Letterman Racing sponsored the event. EPIC officials said the summit was meant to commemorate what the company calls “monumental use” of 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol in the IndyCar® Series as well as ethanol’s first Indy 500 win.
Today’s Ethanol Summit is over and Laura McNamara is working up her coverage for you. She’ll have pictures and audio interviews posted soon.
Winning a two year lease on a Flex-Fuel Chevy Silverado would be pretty cool and apparently a lot of people thought so. 
Lobbyists for ConocoPhillips, Tyson, and the Soap and Detergent Association have jumped into the fight over whether oil companies should be able to use the credit. The IRS ruled last month that they should be able to. That prompted Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) to introduce a bill to repeal the ruling and narrow the tax break’s scope to what Congress had originally intended. 
Biodiesel giant Imperium Renewables is looking to get $345 million in investments in an initial public offering. You might remember Imperium from our previous posts 
It was an afternoon of dodging the drivers of cars, trucks and SUVs. All were eager to find their place at the pumps that offered E10 fuel for just $2.25. Finally, I bumped into IndyCar Driver Scott Sharp. He seemed just as enthusiastic as the consumers. Scott said he thinks the growing use of ethanol is exciting. He said the IndyCar Series deserves a lot of credit for being on the frontier of the ethanol industry. He pointed out that the transition to 100 percent ethanol was a big transformation for the series. Ultimately, Scott said ethanol offers more power in the cars’ engines and better fuel economy. He asked, if IndyCar Drivers can be out running 230 miles an hour on ethanol, “why can’t every car in America?” As Scott dished on the benefits of ethanol, he also freely doled out his autograph: